Scenario: You have a small business Facebook page that’s got a respectable number of fans. You post a few times a week but a very small percentage of your fans are seeing or engaging with your posts. What’s up with that?
There are a couple of reasons. First, a mind-numbing number of posts are made to Facebook every day. There could be anywhere from 1,500 to 15,000 possible posts for one person to see, depending on how many friends they have and number of business pages liked. Part of Facebook’s mission (read: algorithm) is to try to help each of us see the posts that are most important to us.
Recently, Facebook asked a group of users what they wanted to see in their news feeds. Alas, one thing people DON’T want to see is overly promotional content. So, Facebook’s algorithm filters out content that’s viewed as overly promotional, so it won’t show up as often in news feeds. As a small business trying to increase sales and gain new customers, this can be frustrating.
There are three common posting practices among small business Facebookers that are to blame for the decline in organic reach to fans. It’s nothing to be ashamed of … we’ve all done it!
Using Calls to Action: What?? We’ve always been taught that EVERY ad should have a call to action. If it’s an ad, yes. But if it’s a post on your Facebook page, then NO.
“Enter to win”: Contests are fun but again, don’t promote a content or giveaway in your regular Facebook posts. Use a paid ad instead.
Posts that re-use content from ads: Facebook catches this in a heartbeat and won’t deliver posts that have the same content as a Facebook ad.
So, what can you do to successfully post and gain organic reach on your Facebook page?
Share information about your business, products or services that provides some value to the consumer.
Create content the drives interaction, such as video, hot news, or something inspirational or humorous.
Build credibility and trust with your audience by “being yourself.” Let your business personality shine.
Ask yourself: “Would people share this with their friends or recommend it to others?” Think about: “Would my audience want to see this in their News Feeds?”
While it seems like Facebook is out to get small business owners, in the end I believe it truly will make us all better marketers by making us think even more about how we can provide some benefit or value to our customers.